The story of an independent jazz artist

Checking in from My travels in Oz. Doing a little two week tour here, three cities. Posting today from Sydney, I am here in the studios of Eastside fm 89.7 (or streaming at www.eastsidefm.org). I am here in the studios doing an interview with the cool tag team of Reed & March and their show A Twist of Cool. My latest release Told Ya So was in named here in Oz as one of the top 20 albums of 2010. In the last two weeks I performed some luxe licks at the Paris Cat in Melbourne, and in the Sydney area at the Clarendon in Surry Hills, Woolahra Jazz Bar in Woolahra, the Sheaf in Double Bay, and The Civic in the city. Having a good time and will post some video soon. Attended the Roy Ayers show at The Basement (where I played a few years back). Good show, very beat heavy.... Packed house, SRO. He can still play the vibes, tho... Had them midi'd to synth sounds. Back to Vancouver for a concert with the big band Urbana on Feb 25. Hugs from Down Under!  Gabriel

committed Evolver that says,“Evolv gets me through long days in the studio, extensive traveling, and gives me edge and focus on stage.”

We were happy to find out that his new smooth jazz cd release ‘Told Ya So‘ is currently on the US and Canadian charts and has been nominated for Album of the Year, and Gabriel himself for Wind Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2011 www.TheWaveAwards.ca where he’ll also be performing April 29 in Ontario, Canada.

This is Gabriel’s (lucky) 13th album, and although the industry praise is already high for ‘Told Ya So’, the award winners are determined largely by popular voting online only until Feb 18. You can support a fellow Evolver by submitting your votes for Gabriel’s two awards at here: https://elect.everyonecounts.com/app/15/22

2010 has been a great year for me and my music, and capping it off with a pair of awards would be so cool! Voting ends Feb. 18 so take a moment now to see all the nominees and vote!

Guitar legend Larry Carlton is being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the awards show April 29, where I am slated to perform my rising-at-radio single 'Rockin' The Ribjoint' from my nominated release 'Told Ya So'. Also in the running for International Vocalist is my friend and colleague Paul Brown, whom you can see in the VIDEO 1 link above, footage from our recent two night stand at Jazz Alley in Seattle, and who will be performing with me onstage at TheWaveAwards.ca.

I will be in Australia for most of February, and have some events scheduled in San Diego, Bali, and Phoenix after that. It should be an upswing year for me and I hope for you, too!

Please check out my new Facebook fan page above, click your 'like' button, and come on down! There's also lots of cool new content at the GabrielJazz.com website, too. Many thanks in advance for your copious votes (multiple email addresses ok) and for sharing this request with your network!! ~ GMH

Whew, it has been a whirlwind few months! I realized I haven't posted or tweeted or facebooked for ages....

Speaking of such, I have some great facebook friends like Gabriela Anders and others, and those connections have led to some great upcoming collaborations...

So, let's see..... I am headlining a couple of nights in Seattle coming up, and will have Grammy Award winner and guitarist Paul Brown as special guest. For details, go to www.KWJZ.com and sign up for the Listeners Club!

December has been incredibly busy, and I have been performing my special Christmas show in many venues, lots of public shows and a good workout on tunes from my Christmas album, which can be purchased at www.WindTunnelRecords.com . There is also a Christmas special there that bundles 'The Essential Gabriel Recordings' in a must-have gift set. Shipping is included...

I have been getting lots of offers for exotic gigs... will be in Bali in January, Australia in February, Jakarta (and maybe the Oasis Awards) in March, and the www.TheWaveAwards.ca in April, Then festival season starts in earnest!

The Nominating Committee for The Wave Awards (formerly the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards)

is delighted to announce that you has been nominated in the following categories:

Instrumentalist of the Year for 2010

&

Album of the Year for 2010 -Told Ya So

(with Miles Black)

The Wave Awards is the 7th in our series of Awards shows andtakes place FRIDAY APRIL 29th, 2011 once againinbeautiful Hammerson Hall at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, Ontario where we will be honouring you and the many other outstanding artists, both Canadian and International, who have contributed to the success of the Wave’s “Smooth Jazz” radio format in Canada.The 2011 recipient of the George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award will be guitar great, Larry Carlton.

All nominations will be posted soon on the Wave Awards website: thewaveawards.caCongratulations on yournominations!

Ok I am back! Happy Halloween.... Did a really fun costumed gig last night and tonight Sunday, hosted a Halloween Party for the neighborhood kids....

Told Ya So showed up on my recent radio rport with a number of new station adds... yay! Onward and upward...

This is cool... I recently had a surge of well being, and the feeling that 'it is all worth the effort' when I received an unsolicited email from someone I have never heard of... it is a bit self serving, but it is a little like getting a gold star in school, ya just want to show it off!

Mark Alderman from Wytheville, VA writes (unedited):

Gabriel,

I’ve been playing trumpet over 45 years and followed many great players. I have heard them live and listened to their recordings; Miles, Chet, Doc, Braun and Botti, to name a few. You are in this same class! I never say one trumpet player is better than another, because everyone is a unique individual, but there comes a time when a trumpet player reaches the pinnacle achieved by few and YOU ARE THERE! I love your sound and your clean improvising. I will be purchasing your CDs and certainly hope you will be coming to Virginia or North Carolina in the near future. Keep blow’in man.

With kind regards,

Mark Alderman

I want to thank you Mark, you made my day ... hope we meet in the near future!

Oct 25- For those of you who don't know, I have a blog underway that documents the trials and triumphs of releasing my independent jazz CD. My new release 'Told Ya So' is out to radio and is getting attention from all over the world in its first week of widespread release. I had a soft release concert in June at the Cellar Jazz Club but needed to get all my ducks in a row and find the right window at radio. I actually went back and did some tweaking, fixed a few parts, had Craig Zurba do a remaster, and Miles Black jumped in with some new bass parts (what DOESN'T he play?). I am much happier with the consistency now, and proud to have this out there... definitely my best work yet. Special thanks to all the stellar guests like Jeff Lorber (who co-wrote the single 'Rockin' The Ribjoint' with me), and to Paul Brown who played guitar and mixed some tunes... also Marc Antoine, Darren Rahn, Rock Hendricks and Amanda Wood. All the above have new projects out, so watch for them!

I finally got my stuff at CD Baby and they are great to work with... they take care of all the digital distribution at the plethora of outlets and such, makes being an independent a much easier task! CDBaby.com/gabrielmarkhasselbach. Already had sales from Sweden, Japan, Belgium, US Army posts overseas, and locally! Wow, the power of the web-buzz. All titles are still available as disc and download at Wind Tunnel Records.

I wanted to take a minute to thank you for your support in helping me pick a single and fine tune my new Told Ya So release! It is out and rockin'!

If somehow your CD copies never arrived in the mail, let me know.

The full CD plus the radio single edit of Rockin' The Ribjoint is finally now at radio across the US and Canada and actively being promoted. Starting to get some action in the first week......

SmoothJazz.com starts their campaign Nov 1, and tracks should be up at iTunes and CD Baby by then, although it is already available as disc and downloads at www.WindTunnelRecords.com.

In the meantime I started a blog documenting the process, triumphs and tribulations of an independent jazz release .... at www.gabrieljazz.posterous.com. Feel free to post.

I also stumbled upon a trifecta of really great internet tools to drive traffic my way and maximize exposure and buzz factor at all social media sites out there (for any product, business or service, not just music) ... they might be of use to you, too.....check them out:

BTW, some of the esteemed guest soloists on Told Ya So have cool new releases as well, and I encourage you to check them out ... great stuff and good luck to you all! Look for new recordings out now from Paul Brown, Marc Antoine, Jeff Lorber, Amanda Wood, Darren Rahn (new single) and Rock Hendricks (Paul Hardcastle).

Gabriel Mark Hasselbach

This site documents my journey as an independent jazz artist in chaotic music industry. I guess this is where I get to 'blow my own' horn, so here goes.

I consider myself rather unique, as I am a multi-wind instrumentalist, performing and recording (mostly jazz) on trumpet, flugelhorn, C and alto flutes, valve trombone, and the Akai EVI wind instrument. I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, but followed my muse to Vancouver, Canada, where my career on the world stage started with the success of the multiplatinum Powder Blues Band. After many national, international, and world tours, I launched a solo career with my Polydor album Solar Winds, and the dozen or so albums since then seem to have withstood the test of time, steadily building up my body of work. Due to pent up demand, my entire catalog has been meticulously remastered and is now on iTunes and all digital distributors, with a limited physical pressing of each available at info@windtunnelrecords.com

I have toured world festivals in locales such as Switzerland (Montreux), Netherlands (North Sea Jazz Fest), and the UK, Japan, Singapore, Philippines, Mexico, USA, and I continue to develop my fanbase through live appearances and esome choice exposure on radio and TV. I have spent the most number of weeks of ANY Canadian artist on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Charts.

My 2010 release, ‘Told Ya So’, won ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ at the 2011 Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards, and spawned three singles including ‘Rockin’ The Ribjoint’, my first Billboard charting track, co-written with Jeff Lorber.

‘Kissed By The Sun’, the 2012 follow-up to that home run, seems to have been a home run with three Billboard charting singles, including ‘Starpixie’ and ‘Lock It Up’; and ‘Ready When You Are’. KBTS reached #8 on the Smooth Jazz Top 50 Album Charts, and was in the top 200 on the Contemporary Groove Charts for 2012. ‘Kissed By The Sun’ was co-produced with, and features Jeff Lorber, as well as a plethora of stellar guests such as Chuck Loeb, Brian Bromberg, Rock Hendricks, and fellow Canadians Rob Tardik and Walle Larsson.

I have also had notable straight ahead jazz successes, including a relatively lengthy two month run on the Jazz Week Mainstream charts with my ‘Come Out Swingin’ album, which featured Michael Bublé (before his rise to prominence), and also made a splash with ‘Swingin’ Affair’ which featured international latin star Nancy Ruth and the legendary jazz and blues icon Dee Daniels. I try to keep the improvisational content of my playing rich but concise, drawing from the Blue Mitchell/ Donald Byrd legacy. Critics seem to support that theory, and I have mountains of reviews to attest to that fact.

However, I prefer the more rhythmically succinct domain of contemporary jazz (or smooth jazz as it is sometimes called) for the variety of color and texture that it provides. I have tried to develop a style that pleases my ear and suits my skills, and that is highly listenable to music aficionados of all stripes.

I am the recipient of a JUNO Award (Canadian equivalent of a Grammy), two JUNO/Technics ‘All Star Band’ Awards (people choice awards with Guido Basso and Maynard Ferguson also in the running), a West Coast Music Award, a Jazz In The Park ‘Best Instrumental Performance’ Award, an Ampex Golden Reel Award, and several gold and platinum album awards (with my earlier group Powder Blues and a few others), besides the aforementioned ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ nods at the 2011 Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards. I have recorded or performed with the likes of such varied artists as Michael Bublé (I toured with him extensively, and recorded several albums with him, and even produced his album ‘Dream’ in my studio), Bob James, Ernie Watts, Little Richard, Tom Scott, George Benson, Lowell Fulsom, John Denver, The O’Jays, Ben E King, Heart, John Lee Hooker, Nikki Yanofsky, and Long John Baldry, including recent Billboard-charting records with Paul Hardcastle, Bob Baldwin and Steve Oliver.